Fledging

Since early March, I have been engrossed in the lives of six barn owls - a mom named Molly, a dad named McGee, four owlets named Max, Pattison, Austin, and Wesley, and one lone unhatched egg that all who were watching named Dudley.  For almost four months I have been intrigued by the day-to-day life of a mother owl nurturing her babies, and a father owl who provided food every single night for mom and babies, with dad stopping momentarily in the owl box to bond with his mate - a ritual carried out every single night. Did you know barn owls mate for life? I didn't...  Did you know that they can actually feel emotions?  I did not.  Did you ever witness the beauty of nature inside an owl box 24/7?  I hadn't until now.  I joined the ustream site right after the first two eggs hatched and have been hooked ever since, fully knowing that approximately 70 days from the hatching, the babies would begin the process of fledging - leaving the nest to strike out on their own.  

This morning at 5:17 AM, the last two owlets fledged, leaving a couple thousand viewers both sad and happy - happy that all four owlets survived to adulthood so that they can begin their own families, but sad because this one chat room that has intertwined so many lives together for the sole purpose of watching this beautiful event in nature will no longer air the lives of six barn owls.

This week, the process of "fledging" has begun in my own home.  My oldest child, my daughter, graduated high school, left the following morning for Walt Disney World for senior week, and will soon be preparing to head off to college.  Funny how both events happened around the same time.....

I've watched nature prepare its young to face the world, and now I'm preparing to send my "young" out into the world....